[ClutchFans] Podcast: As win streak continues, are Rockets legit title contenders?

If Asik is motivated we can win this year. Hard to compete against 48 minutes of rim protection against a team as offensively gifted as the Rockets. We would need to take better care of the ball and Harden needs a decent amount of calls in the playoffs.

 

To be contenders the team has to learn to win games with there defense when they can't get the pace up.

Once we can win games with defense, then we will be contenders.

 

until there are a couple of long winning streaks (like 10+),I would not get hopes up.

 

not really. #1 reason for continued success is great ball movement and great defense. They can't do either regularly and until they do, they won't win. If they did at least one of them consistently, they could beat any team on any given day.

 

Still 1 trade away

 

How does the workers on this site get away with calling themselves Clutch? Really? I think your traffic suggests youre bigger than that. Surely it's time to use actual names now

 

the right mid season trade could make us title contenders. just ask clyde drexler.

 

Haha, the things people on the Internet presume they are entitled to an opinion on.

 

Best one yet, and let us know about the Camila Grill.

DD

 

The team also has a much better record when Lin starts, which is a smaller sample sure, but it is a sample, granted, part of that touches on the more uncomfortable point that many of us don't want to discuss, which is that the team often plays better without Harden around.

Lin's +/- is also worse when coming off the bench, so it's hard to say that the team is really more effective this way.

But at the end of the day. As long as they can stay on a role with some consistency, it's better than the alternative .

 

Interesting that MK mentioned Waiters, who I think would really fill a need and still has massive upside. No idea how difficult he is or what his issues are. He'd be a guy that might be worth gambling on.

 

Steve Novak???

 

It's a whole new dynamic chasing the small and/or final piece* v having to become a relevant team.

*Two ideal definitions of 'the final piece' are Mychal Thompson, Klay's daddy, who was also KMc's daddy. Thus, The Logo traded to get MT and came up with B2B trophyies - and - Sheed. Joe D's last good move? Pistons wrested the title from the (self-anointed) dream-team Lakes.

I will do cartwheels, ok menta High 5s, if DM the GM can effect that kind of move. Yet, I (want to) believe Omer back is close to that move himself.

 

The sample isn't that small. Even though Lin was meant to come off the bench this season, he's started 25 games so far.

 

I think the Rockets know what the numbers say, and they are trying to accomplish the following in response to those numbers:

(1) First and foremost, get Harden to play more within the offense and to minimize the one-on-one play except for maybe at the end of games (depending on what the defense is doing).

(2) Continue to encourage Lin to be aggressive whenever he's in the game. When Lin is aggressive with the ball, especially against another team's second unit, good things tend to happen.

(3) Reduce Harden's minutes so that Harden doesn't get so worn down, which will in turn allow Lin to run the show for 3-4 extra minutes each game.

(4) Get at least one better shooter to play in lineups with Lin. An aggressive Lin surrounded by better shooting will create more opportunities for the Rockets' second unit to maintain (or even increase) leads while Harden is on the bench.

Of course, the Rockets will overlap starters' and key backups' minutes (and I'm starting to really like the Lin-Howard dynamic out there during this win streak); but these points remain true nonetheless.

 

They are already contenders ladies and gents. Once we acquired Dwight we immediately became contenders.

 

That would be a minority position. Most of media, ranked us to finish 5-6 in the west. Even our GM expects us to get past the first round and anything after that would be bonus.

 

Well put me in the minority then pimpn. Dwight took a young Magic team to the finals with lesser talent imo. He have another Superstar ( Harden) to work with along with a possible superstar in Parsons. All it takes is some gelling ( team chemistry) and they could go deep.

 

I wished I shared the optimism regarding this team getting to the Finals. Right now they are 2 games from the second seed and realistically about 4 games from the 7th-8th seed. I feel like we are riding a waive, on the upper crust....and more primed to fall than to rise at this point. Just my feeling about it right now barring trades or injuries. Of course a trade may change my feelings. And a significant injury would bomb this team back down to 6-8 rather swiftly.

 

Just to go totally off topic but your signature has a 15% shot of happening if rockets do a trade. That seems kinda high but you sig has 15 players + the rockets allready have 15 players.

Actually it would be a little bit higher than 15% due to not every team having 15 players.